Council and traders in Stone prepare for a year of events

The new year may have only just begun, but residents and visitors to Stone can already start adding a host of days out to their diaries for 2025.

Stone Town Council and Stone Traders’ Group are preparing events for the coming months, including culinary celebrations, musical treats and commemorations of major anniversaries.

In previous years Stone Town Council has hosted celebrations of Victory in Europe (VE) Day in May to mark the anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe. But this year the weekend after May 8 will see the town’s long-running Food and Drink Festival being held at Westbridge Park.

Instead of weekend VE Day festivities, town councillors are instead preparing to focus their efforts on marking the 80th anniversary of Victory over Japan (VJ) Day in August, when the war ended in the Far East.

The 80th anniversary of VE Day is still set to be commemorated however on Thursday, May 8, with the raising of a flag in town in the morning and a beacon lighting in the evening.
Councillor Jim Davies, speaking at Tuesday’s town council meeting (January 14), said:

“We tend to forget about VJ Day and there are a lot of people in town who quite rightly say we must not forget. We talk about the ‘forgotten army’ who were continuing to fight in the Far East (after May 1945).

“It would be nice for us to give this a boost this year, in conjunction with the music festival. It is also good having the heritage centre now – we can put stuff together to show people what Stone and our forebears were doing.”

Stone’s new Heritage Centre opened last year as part of the Crown Wharf development. An appeal was launched for items showcasing Stone’s history to be loaned for display and the centre is open on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 11am to 4pm.

Councillor Jill Hood, chair of the town council’s Tourism and Town Promotion Committee, also looked forward to the return of the ‘floating market’ to the canal in May. She said: “I hope the floating market and heritage centre will bring a lot of people into the town who would not normally come in.”

Stone’s traders have put together a calendar of events too for 2025 to encourage visitors to flock to the town centre. They include the return of monthly street food sessions and a Halloween festival for families, as well as a new day showcasing the work of the emergency services, offering youngsters the chance to view vehicles.

Events proposed to take place in Stone during 2025 include:

• Texas flag raising, marking Texas State’s independence from Mexico (Saturday 1 March)
• St George’s Day re-enactment (Saturday April 26)
• VE Day commemoration (Thursday May 8)
• Stone Food and Drink Festival (Friday May 9 to Sunday May 11)
• Stone Street Food (Fridays May 16, June 20, July 18, August 15, September 19, October 17)
• Floating market/waterside events (24, 25, 26 May)
• Stone Carnival Week (Saturday May 31 to Sunday June 8)
• Puppet Tree Jamboree
• Florence Brass Band Concert and Burma Star Commemoration
• Summer children’s event
• Classic car event
• Vegan market
• VJ Day commemoration (Friday August 15)
• Music event/street party (Saturday August 16)
• Emergency Services Day (Sunday September 14)
• Halloween festival (Saturday October 26)
• Christmas lights switch-on (Thursday November 20)
• Christmas markets (Saturdays November 23 and December 14)
• Texas flag raising, marking the anniversary of Texas joining the Union on 29 December 1845 (Monday December 29)